I received my 5th CAP ID card in the mail yesterday, but that night I learned a helpful lesson from a C/Amn in my unit. Apparently, there are 3 little button holes on the small side of the AF tie to prevent it from moving around. You'd think after a few years of wearing one of these I would have noticed that before I spotted a 12-year-old C/Amn taking advantage of this feature...

"If you start out dumb enough, you can learn something new every day."

I received my 5th CAP ID card in the mail yesterday, but that night I learned a helpful lesson from a C/Amn in my unit. Apparently, there are 3 little button holes on the small side of the AF tie to prevent it from moving around. You'd think after a few years of wearing one of these I would have noticed that before I spotted a 12-year-old C/Amn taking advantage of this feature...

"If you start out dumb enough, you can learn something new every day."

Anyway, that gave me a good laugh last night.

Even in the military, you'd find that there are all sorts of things you "should have known" and didn't learn until it became passed down gouge.

I'm 27. I asked what I felt like was an incredibly stupid question a few weeks ago. "Does that cadet have her belt on backward?" "No, it's supposed to be reversed from males." "Why is that? "Well, the buttons on a female shirt are on the opposite side." "Yeah, I know that. But what does that have to do with the belt?" "Well, if you looked at it, the buckle lines up with her gig line. If she wore it like a male, the buckle would be on the wrong side." "Doy." How the heck did I not realize that?

I joined in Apr. of 1996 as a Cadet. I am just crossing the 21 year mark this month. The one thing that I have learned about CAP and certainly about life is that the learning never stops. I have learned to emabrace that fact and I do everything that I can to make the best of every learning oppertunity so that I can better myself as a Senior Memeber and a mentor.

The day that one believes that he/she knows everything and no longer needs to learn is a dark day. That type of person is dangerous. In life, there is always more you can learn, no matter how much you may know or the level of experience you may have in a subject.

The "Champion mindset" is knowing you are good at something, but still seeking critique. "Sure, I just won a gold medal, but how can I improve?" -Lt Col Rob Smith

At NCLS this year, Gen Selva mentioned that leadership is not a destination, but a journey. One of his main points was that lifetime learning is the right attitude and even if you become the Vice-Chair of the Joint Chiefs you should still be seeking to learn more.

Self motto:"I can't do it"comes from a lack of confidence. "I won't do it" comes from a lack of willingness.

You have to get out there and just remember that you're always learning something. Everything that happens in life comes with a lesson. They aren't always pretty moments either. So you get through it, and you learn from it, not just to obtain the knowledge but to put that knowledge to use and help someone else make it work down the road.

So I learned that the female belt goes the other way because of the female shirt buttons. Got it. That means the next time I see a female putting her belt on wrong, or someone else asking the question, I can help them out. "Hey, by the way..." No need to be crude about it and treat them like they're stupid. They don't know. I didn't know once.

It's not always big stuff you learn. It's small stuff like that. Maybe it doesn't have a huge impact, but it means something to someone even if just for a few seconds. Use what you know to help someone else.